The martial aspects of knighthood are largely downplayed outside of Hearthside, but some, such as Lodestar, undertake mech pilot training as a way to maintain tradition, and besides, who doesn't want to stomp around in a big metal robot?
The cockpit is located in the mech's torso, with a hatch on the belly granting access to the pilot. Movement and weapons systems are controlled by paw keyers and tail-actuated analog controls located at the base of the seat. Sensor feeds are presented to the pilot via a HUD visor. Typical weapons include a back-mounted artillery cannon and plasma claws located on the forepaws. The rear paws have sharp metal claws designed to dig into the ground, allowing the mech to rear up on its hind feet.
Large mechs represent the upper limit of practical force projector applications in atmosphere, and arrays of projector plates are located on the palms of mech's paws, allowing the mech to walk without damaging roads and other structures underfoot. As with smaller powered armor, the force projectors also allow mechs to climb smooth vertical surfaces.
Like their pilots, mechs also have tails, which serve as melee weapons as well as allowing the mech to balance on its hind feet. Other cynoidomorphic features are included mostly out of tradition, such as antenna arrays positioned on the snout like whiskers, and heatsinks shaped like a yinrih's upright ears.
One quirk of large yinrih machines that humans find disquieting is their sound, or rather, complete lack of sound. One expects a building-sized robot to make _some_ sort of noise while running, like the roar of an engine or the whine of servo motors, but the only audible part of a mech's operation is the dull thud of its tread across the ground. This absence of mechanical noise gives the impression that the mech is a living thing moving of its own accord.
Yinrih mech pilots often joke with their human friends that it's nice that humans have to look up at them for a change.